Vehicle door closing mechanism



y 1944-v J. B. PARSONS 2 ,348,306 VEHICLE DOOR CLOSING MEOH'ANIIISMOriginal Filed. Jan. '12, 1942 Ill/II.

*-| I I I l I I I I I I I I I I I I l Jahn ,a. 294mm;

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 9, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEOriginal applicationJanuary 12.19.42, Serial No.1} 1 426,438. Dividedand this application'February 7 24, 1943, Serial No. 476,887

4 Claims. (Cl; Z68'3) 1 This invention relates to vehicles such asautomobiles but more particularly to fluid pressure systems for vehiclesfor actuating the doors thereof.

An object is to produce new and improved means for closing a vehicledoor through the medium of pressure fluid, the arrangement being suchthat the door can be opened and closed manually independently of thefluid pressure means.

Another object is to produce a door closure for vehicles by which theordinary check strap is utilized, means being associated with thecheckstrap by which the door may, if desired, be closed by fluid pressuremeans, thereby enabling the door to be closed either manually or bypower controlled means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear,and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment ofthe invention is shown on the accompanying drawing in which 1 Figure lis a fragmentary sectional View of the door closing mechanism, the doorbeing indicated in its closed position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the parts shownin Figure 1, showing particularly the mounting of the power operatedbell crank arm;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the door closure mechanismshowing the door in its open position; and

Figure 4 is a plan view partly in section of the valve mechanismcontrolling the operation of the door closing unit.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a door 37 which ismounted in the usual manner to swing about hinges 52. Vehicle body doorsof this character are ordinarily provided with stops to limit theoutward swinging movement thereof. As shown, a check strap 53 is pivotedat 54 to the door jam and extends inside the door as indicatedparticularly on Figure 3. A Washer 55 at the end portion of the checkstrap provides an abutment for one end of a coil spring 56, a secondwasher 51 being disposed at the opposite end of the spring 56 and beingslidable relative to the strap 53. The washer 51 is adapted to abutagainst a stop plate 58 provided Within the door. It will be manifestthat when the door is swung open to a predetermined eX-' tent, thewasher 5'! will abut against the plate 58 and the spring 56 willthereafter cushion the door movement and limit further swinging of thedoor. Such conventional check strap arrangementis employed in thisconnection, but tothe outer end of the usual check strap 53 is pivotallyconnected an extension 59 having a head at the outer end thereof. Theexten#- sion 53 passes throughan opening 6| in an arm 52 of a bell crank63. The bell crank 63 is pivoted on a stud or and the other arm 65 ofthe bell crank has pivotally connected to it 'a piston rod 66 on whichis mounted a piston 61 slidable within a cylinder 68. The lowenend ofthe cylinder E8 is pivotally mounted on'apin' fi and from the cylinderleads a tube 19' which'i'sadapted to communicate with the pump l9 aswell as throughflsuitablevalve mechanism (Figure 4;),

the reservoir 23 so that fluidunder pressuremay be forced into thecylinder 68 to drive the piston 61 in one direction and also to allowthe liquid within the cylinder to be returned to the reservcir ashereinbefore explained.

It will be apparent that when it is desired'to close the door 37,- fluidunder pressure maybe introduced into the cylinder 58 todrive the pistonupwardly thereby to cause' the' bell crank 58 to rock in aclockw'isedirection (Figure l). The head 55 in the open position of thedoor 36 will be substantially in abutment with the edge porl tion of theopening 6! so that the clockwise movement of the bell crank will causethe head 60, extension 59 and check strap 53 to move to the left ofFigure 4, thereby swinging the door to its closed position. After thedoor is closed, the tube is opened to the reservoir 29, the liquid isforced from the cylinder 68 by counterclockwise movement of the bellcrank 63 caused by the spiral spring H which has one end anchored to thestud 54 and the opposite end to a pin 12 on the bell crank arm 65.

One feature of the above described construction is that in addition tothe power control, it enables the door to be manually opened and closedin the normal manner. It will be apparent that when the door closuremechanism is in its normal position as indicated in Figure 1, the doormay be opened and closed manually, the strap extension 59 slidingthrough the opening 6|. However, when the door is in open position, itmay be closed by power means as above explained and after closure hasbeen effected, the spring H returns the parts .to their normal position.I

On Figure 4, one form of solenoid operated valve for use in connectionwith the door closure mechanism above described, is illustrated. In thisform, the valve mechanism comprises a tubular casing 13, a portion ofwhich is sur- 2 rounded by a solenoid coil 14. Extending from one end ofthe casing 13 is a hose attaching nipple 15 which is connected to thetube whereas the nipple 16 on the opposite end of the casing 13 isconnected to the pump side. Within the casing 13 is a valve 11 which hasa part 18 to close the nipple opening 15, there being a passage 19through the valve terminating in lateral ports 80. Itwill be apparentthat fluid under pressure is admitted to the casing .13 through thenipple 16, but so long as the portion I8 is seated against the nippleopening 15, no

fluid can pass to the cylinder 68. However, by energizing the solenoid14, the valve 11 is moved upwardly to allow pressure fluid to passthrough the ports 80 and out through the nipple to the cylinder 68. Whenthe pump I9 is stopped,

it will be apparent that the pressure of the liquid created by thespiral spring II will unseat the valve 11 and thereby allow egress ofthe liquid from the cylinder.

This application constitutes a. division of my co-pending applicationSerial No. 426,438, filed Jan. 12, 1942.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction,arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from thespirit of the invention especially as defined in theappended claims.

fWhat'I claim'is: V

1'. A device of the class described comprising in combination with avehicle door mounted in a door frame for swinging movements 'to and fromclosed position, a check strap pivoted to the door frame, spring meansassociated with said strap to cushion the door opening movement, anextension on said strap, fluid pressure actuated arm connected to engagesaid extension for effecting door opening movement, and means enablinglost motion between said arm and extension to afford manual opening andclosing movements of the door.

2. A device of the class described comprising spring means for normallyholding said arm in a predetermined position.

3. A device of the class described comprising in combination with avehicle door mounted in a door frame for swinging movements to and fromclosed position, a check strap pivoted to the door frame, spring meansassociated with .said strap to cushion the door opening movement,

an extension on said strap, a bell crank having an opening in one armthrough which said extension is slidable, a stop on said extension withwhich said arm is engageable when the door is in open position, pressurefluid means connected to the other arm of said bell crank for actuatingsame, and spring means for normally holding said arm in a predeterminedposition.

4. A device of the class described comprising in combination with avehicle door mounted in the door frame for swinging movements to and toand from closed position.

from closed position, a check strap connected to the door frame, acushion associated with said strap for cushioning the door openingmovement, an extension on said strap having a stop at the outer endportion thereof, a bell crank having an opening in one arm through whichsaid extension is slidable, said stop being engageable with said bellcrank arm when the door is moved to open position, power operated means.connected to the other arm of said bell crank for actuating same, andmeans for normally holding said bell crank in a predetermined positionwhereby the door may be manually moved JOHN B. PARSONS.

